2018-08-10

Chinese Generic Drugs Not Effective, Not a Single Company in Global Pharma Top 50

The expensive drug price of serious illness will introduce the development dilemma of China's pharmaceutical industry and the improvement of institutional mechanism into a deeper discussion: Where is the generic drug in China?

The reporter of "Depth Line" (ID: depthpaper ) found that behind the high drug prices of Chinese generic drugs, it is the strict constraint of China's strict drug intellectual property protection system and some institutional mechanisms in the medical field.

Regarding the Indian generics industry, the general public opinion believes that compulsory drug licensing is fundamental to the success of the Indian generics industry. However, combing the Indian intellectual property protection provisions will find that this may be a long-term misunderstanding. India's "strong imitation" is based on the imitation of domestic laws, rather than the "strong imitation" of international conventions. As early as 2005, international conventions have allowed member states to initiate compulsory drug licensing under specific preconditions. But for decades, China has never issued an order, and India has only one strong copy.

There are quite a few voices suggesting that China should start compulsory drug licensing in a timely manner to improve the accessibility of drugs in China. However, the reporter of "Deep Line" found in the interview that the development of China's generic drugs is not as simple as launching "strong imitation". The factors behind the industry, market, price and terminal have become China. It is difficult for generic drugs to "break through" the wall. All of this is not a day of casting. If it is to be solved, it is not a day's work: the development dilemma of China's generic drug industry can be solved without a strategy, and it requires a "package" of "pharmaceuticals."

The conclusion:

In June 2018, the US "Pharmaceutical Manager" magazine published the top 50 global pharmaceutical companies in 2018, and none of the Chinese pharmaceutical companies were on the list. It is worth mentioning that the United States and Japan are still the countries with the largest number of pharmaceutical giants in the world. In the top ten, the United States has six seats.

"From a big medical country to a strong pharmaceutical country, China must take a new path." Guo Yunpei said.

The Chinese pharmaceutical industry was valued at $108 billion in 2015, and 95 percent of drugs approved by the China Food and Drug Administration are generics. However, many patients in China with cancers or rare diseases are forced to use expensive imports, either because there are no generic drugs available to meet their needs, or because domestic generics are ineffective or have severe side effects.